Hi everyone!
This year I have an insanely busy schedule. I work full time, I am failling miserably at my masters and I’m trying to have a bit of a social life as well… so my posts are going to be few and far between.
I managed to finish 8 books in January and even found some absolute gems alongside some not so great ones…Without further ado, this is everything I read in the month of January
It Ain’t me Baby (Hades Hangmen #1) by Tillie Cole ⭐
This is the first book in a motorcycle club romance. The female main character is running away from a religious cult, she’s been recluded her entire life but has finally managed to escape and she stumbles upon the gang and they take her in. The cult aspect of the story is what originally attracted me to this, but I ended up really disliking this story.
For starters, the hero is mute and only able to talk around those who he’s completely comfortable around, AND then the heroine. On the first day they see each other. Because that’s how that works. The whole idea of “fixing” his mutism left such a bad taste in my mouth. Love doesn’t “fix” difficulties or dissabilities, and I also don’t like the idea of dissabilities having to be fixed. That sounds so ableist and I just could not get on board with them as a couple.
Not to talk about how posessive and violent he was towards her. I was rooting for her to end up with a side character instead. In case you couldn’t tell, I will not continue on with this series.
Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun ⭐⭐⭐⭐
How freaking exciting it is to find sapphic adult romance stories that have chemistry and are spicy. You might think that this isn’t such a big deal, but as someone who is in a sapphic relationship and actively searches for this representation, I can tell you it’s not that easy to come across. So for that alone, this romance has my eternal gratitued and love.
Now, getting into it. The premise is TO DIE FOR: A girl fake dates her boss for the holidays but falls for his sister instead. What’s not to love about that?? There are so many things to love here. Both main characters are incredible, although our protagonist Ellie is the one we focuse on and who undergoes the biggest personal growth. I enjoyed many of the situations they find themselves in. Snowed in, only one bed, forbidden romance (although since Ellie is faking a relationship with Jack’s brother I guess it’s a fake forbidden romance). However, I wish Ellie had been better at communicating her thoughts and feelings. Misscomunication is defeinitely a key factor in the conflict that we encounter and it wasn’t from Jack’s side, so it felt even easier to resolve as a reader and it kind of frustrated me.
Nonetheless, I haven’t found many f-f romances I’ve enjoyed but this one is definitely one of them.
The Bride Goes Rogue (Fifth Avenue Rebels #3) by Joanna Shupe ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I know I read this INCREDIBLE historical romance series out of order but I CAN EXPLAIN. I read this book because it was recommended by Jessen and I adore every single historical romance book she recommends. So I picked it up, I devoured it in a couple of days and I fell head over heals in love with the plot, the writing, the characters and the romance.
Katherin was such a strong female lead that I absolutely loved. The way she handles broody and stubborn Preston, and the fact that he isn’t willing to honor the engagement was with so much grace but also fierceness. I adored how Preston was left in awe at her every single time and couldn’t help but be interested and invested in her. The spicy scenes were top notch but they also share tender and vulnerable moments together. And the groveling Preston does was so amazing to read about.
I then find out that this is the sequel to The Lady Gets Lucky, which is my favorite historical romance novel of all time. I had read it a couple of years ago so I had to immediately reread that.
The Lady Gets Lucky (Fifth Avenue Rebels #2) by Joanna Shupe reread ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Which I did, and I might have loved this even more this second time around. Kit and Alice are one of my absolute favorite OTPs of all time. Kit’s fun and easy-going personality fits so well with Alice more shy, introverted but fierce one. I think they have some of the best chemistry and banter I’ve come across.
The Heriess Hunt (Fifth Avenue Rebels #1) by Joanna Shupe ⭐⭐⭐
Since I had already fucked up the reading order I thought, might as well go back to the beginning and read the very first book. I have to say, I didn’t love this nearly as much as the other two. I found Maddie and Harrison perfect for each other… but not always for the best reasons. I found them both rather immature and petty. They keep claiming they love each other but not acting accordingly. Miscommunication was very present here. However, this is a second chance romance (my least favorite trope) but I did really enjoyed how it was played ot in here. We do get to see them fall in love all over again or reignite the spark that was always there, it was the relationship that later develops that bothered me the most.
A Vow so Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers #3) by Brigid Kemmerer ⭐⭐⭐’5
This is the third and final book in this fantasy trillogy that started as a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I remember absolutely adoring the first two books. I love retellings, and I adored the original twist this one provided. For starters, I love the dissability rep we get in Harper. She has cerebral palsy but is the ultime badass heroine of the story. I also freaking adored Grey, the prince’s bodyguard who ended up being my favorite character. The first book stays true to the original tale, the second book folows Grey and the path he ends up taking and this final novel was the combination and meeting of the two main plotlines and conflicts.
Here is the thing. It has taken me three years to read JUST this final book. Since then, my memories and investment on the characters has faded a bit and my enjoyment of YA fantasy in particular has greatly diminished, so those two things were playing a big role againts my enjoyment of the book. But even with the two factors, I still ended up giving this 4 stars. I think the story did a great job at getting me invested in the plot and characters very quickly, the pacing was great with no dull moments but also enough time to absorb the different twists thrown in. A shame it took me so long to get to because otherwise I probably would have given it 5 stars.
Waiking Olivia (Waiking Olivia #1) by Elizabeth O’Roark reread ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is a reread for me since I’ve been thinking about this story for quite some time, and this also blew up on booktok a little bit ago. I really enjoyed this. It has a bit of a taboo touch but to me it was just enough that I could get on board with.
There’s an age gap, although the FMC is on her third or second year in college, and the MMC has just come out of college so nothing scandalous here. The power imbalance and taboo element comes into play because Will (MMC) is the coach for the track team Olivia is part of. The most ineteresting thing about this book is that Olivia sleeps run, and how this affects her emotionally, physically and how it impacts her life since she wants to run for a living. I really loved how this plot was handled, as well as both characters, their chemistry and relotionship.
However, the reason why this doesn’t get the full 5 stars I originally gave it, is because of the constant comments from Olivia on the girls appearances. I feel like she had a difficult and rather unhealty relationship with food that was underdeveloped. She uses weight as a sort of weapon to hurt people around her and the term “anorexic” was used many times in what I felt was a careless way, and none of this was adressed.
Drowning Erin (Waiking Olivia #2) by Elizabeth O’Roark ⭐⭐⭐
This is the companion novel to Waking Olivia. It takes place years later and follows Erin (Olivia´s friend) and Brendan ( Will’s younger brother). I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first one. It’s a second chance romance, which is my least favorite trope. However, as much as I don’t tend to enjoy this trope, I really disliked how Erin’s previous relationsip was handled and how immature every single character in this book behaves. It’s something that constantly took me out of the story because their adult life was something very present. Their corporate work life, the social gatherins.. so when they behaved like fifteen years old I was constantly taken aback.
I’ve rambled long enough already, I’ll try to be quicker on my next wrap up but I do tend to get carried away…
That’s everything I read at the beginning of the year. I hope you have a wonderful reading week
Take care
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